6 sports The Beacon Monday, January 25, 2010

Men’s basketball seeks back-to-back winsKyle Beck Contributing Writer

The Palm Beach Atlantic University men’s basketball team faced a tough challenge on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as they took on legendary Coach Rollie Massimino’s Northwood Sea-hawks and their number 10 national ranking in the NAIA. The Sailfish fought hard but fell to Northwood, losing 90-68.

The game started at a frantic pace as both teams tried to dictate the tempo and force the other into costly mistakes. PBA and Northwood both applied full-court pressure for most of the game, and during the early go-ing this contributed to plenty of turn-overs.

The Seahawks’ hustle and size led them to an early 20-8 lead. The Sail-fish switched from man-to-man de-fense to a two/three zone, and con-tinued using this strategy.

Phil Pejovic provided most of the offense for PBA in the first half, hit-ting three three-pointers and adding offensive put back. He finished the game with 15 points.

The size and quickness of Sea-hawks Melvin Calhoun and Tyrone Davis caused fits for the Sailfish all night as they hounded ball handlers and consistently got into the middle of the Sailfish defense.

Every time PBA closed the gap the Seahawks had an answer, and when it seemed the Sailfish would trim the lead even more before halftime, Jay Duncan of Northwood hit a three at the buzzer to give them a 52-38 half-time lead and momentum going into the locker room.

Jonathan Lawrence was able to

Kuhn selected to Scholar All-South Region teamCassady FairclothContributing Writer

For an in-season student athlete, 3.66 is more than a couple of numbers.

To Palm Beach Atlantic Universi-ty’s junior soccer player Angie Kuhn, it was a well-deserved GPA that, along with her talent, helped her earn honors from the National Soc-cer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) as a member of the Scholar All-South Region team.

“I truly feel blessed that God has given me the ability to play soccer and maintain good grades in school,” Kuhn said.

Kuhn is in her third year in the nurs-ing program while working equally as hard on the soccer field, with statistics and awards to prove it.

Kuhn ended her junior soccer sea-son with a total of 15 goals and four assists.

As a freshman, Kuhn was named First Team to the Independent Colle-giate Athletic Association (ICAA) and was also on the NCCAA All-American Honorable Mention list.

As a sophomore, she was named to the NCCAA South All-Region team. Recently Kuhn has been named to

Junior Angie Kuhn pokes the ball free in the midst of a scramble on the field. lori richards/contributing photographer

Senior guard DeAndre Williams leaps over a Northwood player on his way to the basket. Northwood ended up winning the game 90-68. lori richards/contributing photographer

slow the game down early in the sec-ond half as he drew fouls from Sea-hawk defenders and got to the free-throw line.

Lawrence provided much of the of-fense for the Sailfish throughout the second half, and finished the game with 16 points.

DeAndre Williams added 18 to lead all Sailfish.

Hunter Ross, who was one of four Sailfish in double-figures, helped cut the lead to 11 with a nice pass to

a teammate on the inside and a fast-break lay-up, but Northwood caught fire from three extending their lead back to 18 quickly and putting PBA out of reach.

The Seahawks used a remarkable 60 percent shooting effort on the night to guide them to victory.

After a 7-0 run by the Sailfish to get the lead back to 11, Northwood an-swered yet again with another three point bucket to get it back to 14 with 6:30 left to play.

Turnovers killed PBA down the stretch as the Sailfish tried to make a late run and close the gap, and they were never able to catch up to the Seahawks.

Easy late baskets and free throws made the score look worse than it actually was. The Sailfish played a competitive game but were unable to stop the Seahawks, losing 90-68 and falling to 2-15 on the season.

Wrap-Ups

Men: The PBA men’s basketball team has had a difficult time this sea-son recording a 2-15 record thus far.

The Sailfish have been in tight games, but have been unable to come out on top in the majority of their contests. At one point the Sailfish had lost 10 straight games.

Their two wins have come against Clark College and Judson University. They have yet to record back-to-back wins this season.

The Sailfish won’t qualify for any post-season play this year, but some young players are gaining valuable experience that could make them a force in the coming years.

Women: The women haven’t fared much better this year, posting a 5-11 record to this point.

The lady Sailfish nearly matched the men’s losing streak of 10 when they lost nine earlier in the year be-fore crushing Johnson and Wales 81-33. The lady Sailfish could make it a respectable year by closing out the season with a string of victories.

But much like the men, the lady Sailfish will have to wait until next year to have the kind of season they desired.

the NCAA/NSCAA All-Region third team, the NCCAA All-American sec-ond team and NCCAA South Region Player of the Year honors.

“I have learned to manage my time wisely; between school and soccer I have to prioritize my homework so I have time to do it all,” Kuhn said. “I also capitalize on many hours of bus rides by reading chapters and study-ing different drugs.”

During the fall soccer season, Kuhn was taking 13 credit hours and par-ticipating with soccer for an estimat-ed 20 hours per week.

“As long as you stay organized and get ahead on your readings and as-signments it is manageable,” Kuhn said.

Kuhn is again taking 13 credit hours this semester while continuing with spring soccer workouts.

The budding soccer star plans to either become a registered nurse or to continue with her studies. If she remains in school, she would like to earn her master’s degree to work in an intensive care unit.